FEDERAL HEIGHTS —Lois Buzard parked her silver Honda Civic in front of another quiet apartment complex in Federal Heights, the 10th stop in one day. She stepped out of the driver’s seat and took out a warm, prepackaged meal in an aluminum tray from a thermal delivery bag in the back seat.

“This is a newer (client),” Buzard, 87, said. “I’ve only been coming here for a few weeks.”

Inside the apartment building, Reba Green, 67, was waiting in the hallway. Buzard handed Green her daily Meals on Wheels lunch and followed Green into her dimly lit living room. The women chatted for a few moments about Green’s health — she had undergone surgery about six weeks earlier and was recovering at home, alone.

“I started getting Meals on Wheels right after I started my treatment. I don’t get around very easily anymore,” Green said. “It’s a blessing for the people who get the meals, but the people who (volunteer) are the real blessing.”

Green was one of the last people on Buzard’s weekly Meals on Wheels delivery route, which includes about 15 stops in Westminster and Federal Heights every Tuesday.

For seniors in most of Adams County, Meals on Wheels are provided through a small, nonprofit resource center called the Senior Hub at 2360 W. 90th Ave. in Federal Heights.

The Senior Hub has been around since 1986 and Buzard has been volunteering for almost that long. She said she has been on her current route, with increasing numbers of clients, for about seven years.

“I do this for the people, to get to know them,” Buzard said. “I used to do routes five times a week … but I’ve had to slow down, even though the need is still going up.”

The Meals on Wheels program has provided warm, low-sodium meals for an optional donation to about 300 residents who are over 60 years old in Thornton, Northglenn, Westminster, Federal Heights and Commerce City for more than 25 years. The hub also has a rural Meals on Wheels program that serves clients in Watkins, Bennett, Strasburg, Byers and Deer Trail.

“The routes are getting really very big, and we definitely need more volunteer drivers,” said Renee Dees, development and community relations director for the hub. “We’re the only Meals and Wheels service for most of Adams County, minus Brighton and Aurora.”

There are about 75 volunteer drivers like Buzard in Adams County. The hub’s Meals on Wheels program director, Amanda de Bock, said about five to 10 more drivers are needed to cover the recent influx of home-bound seniors requesting meals.

Last year, de Bock said there were about 200 Meals on Wheels lunches, which are prepared by the Volunteers of America, served to Adams County residents five times a week. This year there are nearly 400 clients.

“There’s a ton of reasons for the increase,” de Bock said. “Some of it is due to cuts in the (federal) food stamps program, but a lot of it is just that more people are getting older… and the need is there — people need food.”

In addition to the Meals on Wheels service, the Senior Hub is the only organization in the metro area that participates in a program called Delicious Deliveries. That food delivery program is available seven days a week, for $7.75 per meal. The food is prepared by local restaurants like Wishbone, Great Scott’s Eatery and Westy’s, and there are no age or eligibility requirements other than living in Adams County.

“The restaurant program is important because we have the option of doing weekends and reaching more people,” de Bock said. “Most of our clients are completely home-bound, they have no way to get out and get groceries or making meals for themselves.”

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